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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24514486">so what do you say?</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/paperpenpal/pseuds/paperpenpal'>paperpenpal</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, Fluff, No Beta, Pre-Timeskip | Academy Phase (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), Sylvgrid Week (Fire Emblem), could be read as plantonic, day 2: dance</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 07:40:11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,147</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24514486</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/paperpenpal/pseuds/paperpenpal</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The ball is around the corner and Sylvain has a question.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Ingrid Brandl Galatea/Sylvain Jose Gautier</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>35</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Sylvgrid week 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>so what do you say?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nightsdawn/gifts">Nightsdawn</a>.</li>



    </ul></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Alone in the library on her free day, Ingrid does not expect to be bothered, not when everyone else is scurrying about for a date to the ball.</p><p>She has decided not to worry about it. It seems like a waste of energy to busy herself with it. She doesn’t even enjoy dancing and she was never at the Academy for any other reason than to study.</p><p>So study she decided to do. On this clear beautiful day, she has found herself a lovely spot in the corner, by a dusty window that does not actually open because no one had ever bothered to fix it.</p><p>If she looks, if she glances out, she can just see the courtyard where several people are practicing. Ingrid has learned all those dances too and from an instructor that her father insisted on hiring, despite the other needs of her territory.</p><p>Because dancing, according to her father, is a need. It is a need because it is a desirable trait in a lady.</p><p>The whole thing makes her grimace.</p><p>She doesn’t dislike dancing necessarily. The movement is fine enough and she can appreciate the art of it, it’s just that she doesn’t like what dancing means for her.</p><p>It is too formal.</p><p>She cannot muster up the same excitement that Annette or Dorothea have for it.</p><p>It is not like training or studying. Those things she actively enjoys because those things bring her closer to a dream that she will never be allowed to fulfill.</p><p>She sighs today at the thought of it but it doesn’t dissuade her from doing her best anyway. In truth, it brings her joy. For her, that is enough.</p><p>So she looks away from the window, opens her book, and begins to study.</p><p>She does not get very far. All too soon, an elbow comes into her line of sight. Sylvain, with all his lanky height, leans against the desk she is using, obviously trying to get her attention.</p><p>She ignores him and despite not looking at him, she knows he is frowning, and watches, from the corner of her eye, the way he sits up against the table, the way he purposely sits close enough so that her arm brushes up against his leg.</p><p>When she still doesn’t respond, Sylvain makes a great show of shuffling for comfort, and because of the way it jostles the desk and therefore the book, to the point that she cannot read in peace, she finally relents.</p><p>“Can I help you?” she says, glaring up at him.</p><p>“Oh Ingrid! I didn’t see you there.” He grins.</p><p>She almost thwacks him with her book but that would be unbecoming of her.</p><p>“As a matter of fact,” he continues, without giving her a chance to respond, “I have a question for you.”</p><p>“Oh boy.” She groans.  She already has an inkling for what is coming.</p><p>“Will you go to the ball with me?”</p><p>The flower he procures from his breast pocket paired with the biggest widest grin he can muster makes her roll her eyes, which is likely the exact reaction he had intended. Especially since they both happened to catch Lorenz do this in earnest the day before, which is another thought altogether.</p><p>“What?” She chuckles. “Couldn’t find someone else to bother? Oh, wait, maybe you did and they just said no. Is that it?”</p><p>“Oh come on Ingrid,” he says, dropping the flower onto the open page of her book with an exaggerated flourish. “You’re not giving yourself enough credit. What makes you think you aren’t the first person I would ask?”</p><p>She doesn’t even bother to humor him. “Really Sylvain, hitting on me? Again? I’m busy!”</p><p>“Alright fine.” He huffs with only a slight whine before returning his voice to normal, “but seriously Ingrid, will you go with me?”</p><p>She glances up at him, suspicious and a little confused. “Why?” She can’t help but ask.</p><p>She had intended on going alone or perhaps with the girls. She wasn’t going to skip it but she had no desire to go with anyone at all. And she’d honestly thought that Sylvain would use the opportunity do charm someone.</p><p>“Uh because you’re my friend?” He nudges. “And I know we’d have a good time?”</p><p>She has the decency to feel a little guilty about her reaction, especially since he seems to be genuine in his answer. “I’m just surprised. I thought you’d ask someone you’d actually have a chance with.”</p><p>“Hey! Ouch!” He laughs, holding his hand to his heart, and falling dramatically onto the desk before quickly scurrying off when a librarian glares at him.</p><p>“Ah-” she corrects, flushing, that really did come out way harsher than she meant it. “I didn’t mean it like that!”</p><p>“No no.” He waves, not at all actually offended. “I know what you mean. But yeah, I thought about going alone so I could mingle and dance with everyone but then people started pairing up so I thought about asking someone but I don’t want to end up with a bad date and miserable at the one ball we have so I thought I’d ask someone who I knew I’d actually have fun with and with no pressure. The only person that really fits that bill is you.”</p><p>“Oh.” Ingrid blinks, trying to decide if she should be flattered. Whatever she thought he was going to say, it definitely wasn’t that.</p><p>“So what do you say? Will you go to the ball with me?”</p><p>Ingrid bites her lip and considers the event. She really is likely to have a good time with Sylvain and having a date is a convenient excuse to say no to anyone else who asks her. Also, something she cannot ignore is that should she say yes, Sylvain is more likely to stay out of trouble. She won’t have to clean any messes if she is with him for most of the night to prevent them from happening.</p><p>“Come on Ingrid,” he says. “Don’t make me beg. Because I’ll do it. I’ll beg and it’ll be loud and embarrassing.”</p><p>“Okay!” She stifles a laugh. “Fine, yes, I’ll go to the ball with you!”</p><p>“Great!” He grins, full and bright.</p><p>She can’t help the way his grin infects her, can’t help the way she smiles back, just as bright.</p><p>Something shifts in his expression then, very briefly, and Ingrid only catches it because she has known him for so long.</p><p>“It’s a date then!” he says.</p><p>Ingrid blinks. “Yeah,” she says, shaking it off, “but now you really have to go because I really do want to get to this.”</p><p>“Alright,” he concedes. “That’s fair, I got what I came for anyway. See you later?”</p><p>Ingrid nods, turns back to the book, where the ivy petals are still splayed out and tucks the flower into her hair with a smile.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Somehow, the fic with Sylvain asking Ingrid on a literal date is the most platonic one I've written.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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